This invention relates to a device and method for making photographic contact prints, for storing those prints and the negatives from which they are made, and for recording information, such as exposure time and filtration, about the manner in which the prints were made.
In the printing of photographs, particularly those taken by professional photographers and serious amateurs, the developed and dried negative film roll is cut into short strips which are then used to produce a contact print of multiple pictures on the negative roll on a single piece of photographic paper. The negatives are frequently stored in a clear plastic "preserver," together with information about the roll number, date, and subject of the images. A notebook is often kept, containing the same information and further information about the .function.-stop and shutter speed of each image, together with information about the exposure time and filtration used in making the contact print or individual enlargements. The contact prints or enlargements are generally stored in an album, utilizing special album pages made for the purpose.
Once the contact print is made, it is frequently difficult to correlate the negatives with the print because of similarities between the subjects of different rolls of film, and the difficulties of viewing a small false-color negative as compared with a true-color print. Determining the exposure and filtration data is frequently even more difficult. When multiple contact prints or several enlargements are made from the same negative roll, confusion can be even greater.
To make the contact print, the cut strips are placed in a light-transmitting carrier, the carrier is superposed on a sheet of sensitized photographic paper, the paper is exposed to light through the carrier and negatives, and the exposed paper is removed and processed to produce the contact print on the paper. The contact print is then used as a means to study the pictures on the film roll and select the pictures from which enlargements are to be made. The contact print also becomes a record of the pictures on the film strip (negatives). Generally, contact prints are stored in albums or in numerous other ways, and negatives are stored separately, with each carrying identifying information such as date and subject matter. Critical information about the contact print, such as exposure time and filtration may be written on the back of the contact print, but is generally recorded in a separate notebook.
A classical apparatus and method for making contact prints is described in Alberti, U.S. Pat. No. 2,807,199.
A more modem method is to place the cut negative strips in a flexible plastic "preserver" made of two sheets of clear plastic heat-sealed together along parallel lines to form pockets for the negative strips. The negative strips are slipped into the preserver pockets, then the preserver is aligned with a sheet of sensitized photographic paper before exposing the superposed preserver and paper to a light source, with or without filtration. After exposure, the paper is processed to produce the contact print, and the negative strips are stored in the preserver without additional handling of the negative strips. The preserver may also include an identification area along one edge which carries indicia identifying the roll number and the date and subject of the negatives. The marginal identification area may also include means for mounting the preserver, such as holes for mounting it in a three-ring notebook or tabs for mounting it in a hanging file. An example of such a preserver is product sold commercially by Print File, Inc. of Orlando, Fla. as its model 35-7B, which holds up to seven rows of five-frame 35 mm strips (thirty-five frames total) for making contact prints on 8".times.10" paper. Numerous other styles and sizes are available from this and other sources for printing different numbers of prints from various film sizes.
Because color prints cannot be made with a safe light, the step of aligning the contact print with the negative strips must be carried out in total darkness. This step is therefore difficult, even if a fixture of some sort is provided.